奈良県立医科大学
高度救命救急センター Department of Emergency and Critical Care Medicine. Nara Medical University

The Department of Emergency and Critical Care Medicine was established in August 1st, 1989. Since 1997, it has served as the Emergency Medical Center of Nara Medical University Hospital for the people of Nara prefecture with a population of 1,400,00. In 2003 our Emergency Medical Center was certified as the 17th Advanced Emergency and Critical Care Medical Center (AEMC), in which our department bears a major responsibility to provide acute medical services. Our AEMC, directed by Kazuo Okuchi, MD, PhD, provides the highest quality of comprehensive care to a large number of severe emergency patients with diverse conditions affecting all parts of the body. We are deeply impressed to have been able to treat severe patients with acute critical injury or illness who could be returned to normal life without sequelae.

Our AEMC responds to the highest level of critical patients, which divided into three categories.

1.

Acute onset life-threatening disease and trauma (CPA, stroke, head injury, tension pneumothorax, etc.)

2.

Specific categories of disease and trauma (severe burn, acute intoxication, heat stroke, etc.)

3.

Emergency disorders requiring treatment by multiple specialists (multiple trauma, multiple organ failure, DIC, septic shock, etc.)

Emergency medicine is a relative new field of study introduced in Japan during the most recent several decades. Recently, physicians who engage in cutting-edge specialized medical care seem to have less interest in primary care and emergency treatment. The desire of numerous patients and the societal demands prompted the establishment of emergency medicine to overcome some of the shortcomings of present medical system.

Trying to utilize emergency medicine for clinical practice, it is important for us to utilize medical knowledge and techniques that are highly specialized in each field. Based on this policy, we consider it our mission to treat severe emergency patients of all kinds and to educate residents and co-medical personal regarding primary care.